The Promising Company OSE Pharma launches an IPO

Created in 2012 by Emile Loria and Dominique Costantini, OSE Pharma is a European cancer immunotherapy company with a multi-epitope technology named Memopi that directs the body’s immune system to generate a specific cytotoxic T response to prevent cancer cell growth. The company announced the launch of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Euronext’s regulated market in Paris (Euronext Paris).

Immunotherapy in oncology is becoming a clinical reality and raises hope for patients by mobilizing their own immune defence to fight against cancer. OSE Pharma’s lead product Tedopi is a patented combination of 10 epitopes. The epitopes (small peptides triggering immune response) are optimized. They have been selected and modified for a stronger binding with immune response receptors (HLA-A2 and TCR). These neo-epitopes trigger a stronger immune response and target 5 tumor associated antigens expressed in several cancers. The Phase 3 clinical programme for this product is scheduled in 2015 and will be active in Europe and in the USA, in order to obtain registration in non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the world. In 2012, there were 1.58 million new diagnosed lung cancer cases and 1.39 million deaths from this disease globally. Despite the different treatments available today (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy), the relative survival rates of these patients at metastatic stage remains very low. Given the large incidence of NSCLC, OSE Pharma estimates that the potential global sales at peak for Tedopi for this single indication could be about €2Bn.

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The initial size of the Offering for this IPO (which will closed March 24) is about 1,700,000 new shares, that is to say approximately €15.98M, based on the midpoint of the indicative price range. Several investors undertook to place orders for subscription for a total amount of €10,763k, i.e. around 65.5% of the gross amount of the offer.

The funds raised within the IPO aim to finance the pivotal Phase III clinical trial of Tedopi in advanced lung cancer. They will also allow the Company to launch additional studies of the benefits of Tedopi to reinforce scientific and medical rationales, in particular on patients with brain metastasis, in order to increase probabilities to sign partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.

Dominique Costantini, CEO and co-founder, explained: “The good results of the phase 2 clinical trial showed that Tedopi can provide new hope for patients with NSCLC, both in terms of overall survival and quality of life. This planned IPO is an important milestone for the development of OSE Pharma, and will allow us to launch our phase 3 clinical trial with Tedopi in this application. We will then be in a good position to progress with the commercialization of an innovative and personalised T specific immunotherapy.”

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